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NP hard |= cannot be run in reverse | 111 comments | Create New Account
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NP hard |= cannot be run in reverse
Authored by: Steve Martin on Thursday, May 30 2013 @ 07:41 AM EDT

Would you consider the function f(x) = x times 0 to not be reversible?

Actually, I do consider it non-reversible (if there is such a term).

Consider: given the function f(x) = x * 0, we are effectively deriving the value of f(x) from the value of x. This is pretty standard.

In order to reverse the function (i.e. to derive x from a given value of f(x)), then we solve as follows:

x = f(x) / 0

which is undefined by our accepted rules of algebra. Even if the value of f(x) were given as zero, the inverse equation becomes x = 0/0, which is indeterminate, so again we cannot derive a value for x.

So in the case of the given function f(x) = x * 0, while the given function is valid and can be solved for any real value of x (in fact is a constant function with value 0), we cannot invert and derive the value of x given the value of f(x).

---
"When I say something, I put my name next to it." -- Isaac Jaffe, "Sports Night"

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

NP hard |= cannot be run in reverse
Authored by: Wol on Thursday, May 30 2013 @ 02:17 PM EDT
You clearly don't understand cryptography ... the reason RSA is so effective is
precisely because it ISN'T (mathematically) reversible. Most "popular"
encryption functions are reversible.

For most encryption algorithms, knowing what sort of algorithm was used, and
having some cipher text, enables you to feed it through the algorithm backwards
and work out the exact algorithm used to encrypt it. For RSA, you already know
the exact algorithm used to encrypt it - you need a DIFFERENT algorithm to
decrypt it.

To try and explain in simple terms, we all know ROT13 encoding :-) And I suspect
most of us know the Caesar cipher is ROT+3. That goes backward - ROT-3 will
decrypt. But let's imagine ROT-3 doesn't work - that's the whole point of RSA.
You have to do ROT+23 instead - a completely different algorithm (admittedly
from the same class). And if you don't know how many letters there are in the
alphabet, you're in trouble ...

Cheers,
Wol

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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